Meeting with The Lone John Harps

To the end of the world - second album by The Lone John Harps - finished in December 2014 
Produced with help from crowd-funding site KissKissBankBank
Photo : www.facebook.com/thelonejohnharps

The interview is now available here : 
http://www.therevolutionwillnotbetelevised.fr/meeting-with-the-lone-john-harps/


Today's music is disembodied, listened to via subscriptions on streaming websites and downloads, more or less legal. The SNEP (National Syndicate of Phonographic Edition in France) announced in September 2014 that the music market was undergoing profound changes tending toward Streaming. It is actually looking like the means of consumption that could stem the steady decline of the Music Industry that has started over 10 years ago! 
In the UK, 2013 revenues in the recorded music industry were growing vs. the previous year, driven by an 11,9% rise in digital revenues and 41% increase for streaming only (figures from the British Phonographic Industry).

On the other end, Thom Yorke, singer of Radiohead qualified it as "The last desperate fart of a dying corps". Because Streaming is also:

• A controversial economic model 
• Search algorithms that aim to optimize catalogues and "suggests" songs to the users
• "Big data" looking to analyze the origins of successful tunes in order to replicate their success... indefinitely... 

Social networks, another major evolution in recent years, allow any artist to exhibit their work through YouTube or Twitter. Finding the artist with the X-factor (and not only on ITV) is now something producers do behind their screen and not in the few live venues of the capital still offering a decent musical experience.

Confronted with all this data, technological innovations and a star system that feigns to be accessible, I wanted to go back to the grassroots level. What motivates today's artists with regards to the Music Industry? Where do they seek inspiration? For what kind of projects? And what are their ambitions?
Trying to avoid the pitfall of generalization but looking for an illustrative example, I have met Mathias Neyrand, founder, singer-songwriter, guitarist ("and a bit of harmonica and piano as well") of The Lone John Harps.

Interview disponible en français ici